close reading Seamus Heaney

And some time make the time to drive out west
Into County Clare, along the Flaggy Shore,
In September or October, when the wind
And the light are working off each other
So that the ocean on one side is wild
With foam and glitter…

 - Heaney, ‘Postscript’, 1996

 

Seamus Heaney (1939-2013)

Heaney was born in rural County Derry, Northern Ireland, in 1939, growing up as a Catholic in Protestant Northern Ireland. He worked as a school teacher and later an academic in Belfast, then in Dublin. He was a professor at Harvard University and at Oxford.

As a poet from Northern Ireland, Heaney used his work to reflect upon the ‘Troubles’, the often-violent political struggles that plagued the country during Heaney’s young adulthood. The poet sought to weave the ongoing Irish troubles into a broader historical frame embracing the general human situation […].’
- Poetry Foundation on Heaney

Seamus Heaney is regarded as one of the most important poets of the twentieth century and has a large popular readership. He won the Nobel Prize in 1995 and many other accolades. People turn to Heaney’s words for everything from presidential inaugurations to reading for personal pleasure. Political, lyrical and always exquisitely crafted, his poems continue to be a mainstay of contemporary literary culture.

In these 2-hour sessions, Dr Mariah Whelan will guide students through a series of close reading exercises to explore ideas of language, form, sound and imagery in a selection of Heaney’s poems. Together we will observe, analyse and discuss the technical prowess and arresting ideas that make Heaney’s poems so beloved.

An ideal class for those wanting to work on their skills of close reading.

Links

• Seamus Heaney website
• Heaney reading at Faber and Faber HQ
• Poetry Foundation on Heaney’s life and a selection of poems
• Poetry Foundation Remembering Seamus Heaney
• Seamus Heaney Nobel Prize Lecture

 

Sundays, 7 June and 14 June 2026
14.00-16.00 British Summer Time
15.00-17.00 Central European Summer Time
Morning in the Americas

Please check the time for your time zone.

Course fees

£86.00 full price
£80.00 CAMcard holders
£80.00 students on a low income

If you cannot attend a course you have booked

Please note that, because places are limited, we cannot usually give refunds if you cannot attend a course. But if you contact us in advance, we might be able to transfer your booking to a different course.

Because these classes are mainly discussion (not lecture), they are not recorded.

 

Click on the image below for the booking page.